Thursday 30 June 2016

The Lonely Woodsman...

Last Christmas I was given some beautiful old seed sacks and I finally got around to stitching on one of them.
Sometimes as I work silly little stories begin to unfold, perhaps I was thinking about seeds and plants, I don't really know...
but as I stitched this picture some ideas began to emerge.
I sometimes feel a bit worried when I share these whimsical tales of nonsense, I apologise in advance!

The Lonely Woodsman.
There was once a lonely woodsman who lived deep in the forest.
He was kind and hard working, and loved the trees and all the creatures that dwelled there.
However, one summer's evening, his heart ached more than it had ever before.
He gazed at a clump of four wild flowers, their flaming orange petals seemed to glow in the twilight.
He sighed and said to himself:
'Oh! How I wish I had a wife.
Someone that I could share such moments as these.'
The forest creatures heard what he had said, and when the woodsman went into his cabin, they gathered around the flowers.
And as the sun began to set, a blackbird sang a magical song, and the spell was cast.
In the morning the woodsman returned to look at the flowers and there he found the most beautiful woman he had ever seen.
She was tall and willowy, with leaf green eyes and flaming auburn hair.
They were married before the Autumn came, and the woodsman and his wife lived happily ever after.

Sunday 26 June 2016

Wire, Stitch and Giggles At Hope and Elvis...


I'd been looking forward to this day for a very long time.
My mate Sam and myself giddily set off to the promised land of Hope and Elvis, to spend the day with the ever so talented Julia Jowett and lots of kindred creative souls.
Today we were making a whimsical wire bird cage, here's Julia's example.
I had never worked with wire before but Julia was so generous with her advice and had many funny stories to tell us along the way!
Here's my unadorned bird cage...
Julia told us to
'Embrace the wonkiness!'
So I did!
The stitching took lots of concentration, and so at this point the photos of my progress are a tad scant (or should I say non- existent!)
Time for a mooch around Louise's studio methinks!
What?
Is it that time already!
It was as delicious as it looked!
Here are some stunning pieces of Julia's work ...
And, sadly as always, the time simply flew by.
Everyone's little wirey cages looked beautiful...
I promise to show you mine when it's finished, but there is still quite a lot of stitching left to be done!
Thank you Louise and Julia for such a fabulous day, and to all the lovely ladies that make Hope and Elvis such a magical place.



Thursday 23 June 2016

A Surprise On Steep Hill!


On Sunday we went to Lincoln as I had to collect my painting from the Usher Gallery.
What joy!
We stumbled across a rather delightful vintage fair just outside the Cathedral!
Fancy a mooch?
I cannot resist brooches!
Especially the old plastic kind!
It was a really lovely, bustling atmosphere.
You gotta loves a gnome!
Why didn't I buy this dress?
First giant plastic ice cream photo of the season!
(I told you I couldn't resist a brooch...or two!)
And then it was time to clamber up Steep Hill with my massive canvas, next time I'm going to paint a miniature!